Arad sat on a large wooden chair as the three faced him, sitting on a large couch. For a moment, he seemed to carry a serious face, but his expression immediately softened up.

“I don’t know how to best start explaining this, so I’ll start from the end and work my way down.” Arad looked at them and leaned forward, “The dark elf goddess Elis, you might’ve heard of her. And I bet Lyla and Tina here had known for long now that I talked to her with Aella before.”

“The one who asked you to hunt a dark elf assassin?” Tina looked at him.

“Help, not hunt.” Lyla looked at her, Mira had told her about that story as well.

Hati looked at Arad with a smile on her face, “And I guess you’ve met this so-called dark elf assassin… From what I know about Elis, I can also guess it wasn’t a dark elf, but something more dangerous.”

“She was a shadow drakaina with a dark elf humanoid form.” Arad looked at her, “You seem to know more about that goddess’s whims than I expected.” He sighed, “The problem isn’t the shadow drakaina herself, I can beat her with ease. The problem is something else.”

He looked at Lyla, “That goddess, Elis. When I asked her why should I help this shadow drakaina, she said that if I didn’t manage to get her healed…Mira might die seven months from now when giving birth.”

Lyla looked at Arad with a stern face, this was her daughter they were talking about. She didn’t expect her to be brought up in this conversation, but this was a talk that she expected to have sooner or later. “Birth complications are more common than people think. Giving birth never was easy to a safe thing, even with the abundance of healing magic. A lot of things could go wrong.”

“Is that so?” Tina looked at her.

“Yeah. Mira’s birth was quite complicated and we both almost died. That’s why I never had a child after her.” Lyla replied, “What about you? How was Serin’s birth?”

“It was…” Tina scratched her chin, “I was lost at the edges of the desert, where Arad hid up not so long ago…I gave birth to Serin alone beneath a tree there. I guess I was lucky to have a smooth one.”

“It varies…” Hati looked at them with a smile, “… from woman to woman, and from a child to another.” She waved her fingers and a small glass of wine appeared in her hand. This woman didn’t seem to get enough drinks.

“In my long years…I’ve popped out several ones and watched many women give birth, I even helped deliver a lot of them.” She looked at Arad, “No two births are the same, and they are always unpredictable, anything might happen and cause complications.” She started spinning the still half-full glass of wine above her sharp fingernail.

She caught the glass and looked at Arad through it, “But…it’s different when we’re talking about demi-goddess and divinely blessed beings.” She shifted her glance toward Tina. “Little Serin holds a powerful divine bloodline, that is why she came out easily. Mira is a demi- goddess; she shouldn’t have any normal complications.”

“Then how is it possible that she might die?” Arad stared at her, “Is that goddess Elis lying?”

“Elis would die before lying. If she said something, her words are nothing but the truth. I’m certain it’s not a might, but that Mira would certainly die when giving birth if appropriate measures aren’t taken.” She leaned back, “Mira won’t have normal complications, but other complex complications are still a possibility.”

“Like what?” Arad looked at her with a stern glare.

“Divine drainage is one thing…It’s when the child of a divine being absorbs too much divine magic while being born and starving the mother to death in seconds.” She theatrically waved her arms, “With Mira being still a weak demi-goddess, that’s a very likely possibility. The mother would die, so the child can inherit her divine power and will.”

“So, to prevent that, we must either return Mira to being a mortal or empower her enough to make her a full-fledged goddess?” Arad looked back at the door, thinking of a way to get Mira to godhood faster.

“Getting her back to being a mortal would only open the door to other complications, and I doubt she could become a goddess in seven months. It’s not a problem of getting enough divine power, but a problem about whether her pregnant body can even ascend before giving birth and becoming a single being. In short, the child would die if she were to ascend while pregnant, it won’t withstand the transformation.” As Hati explained, Arad’s brain was racing to find a solution. There might be a magic that allows him to carry the burden of supplying the child’s divine magic, but where would he get that?

“That goddess…” Tina looked at Hati, “She said that getting that shadow drakaina would help, I can’t see how that is helpful.”

“Yeah, can that shadow drakaina know some magic?” Lyla questioned as well, she wasn’t that versed in magic or dragons, but the key must be in what Elis wanted.

“A good question and I might already know the answer.” Hati looked around the room and her eyes stopped at Arad. “She probably wants that shadow drakaina to carry Mira into the shadow’s palace to give birth.”

“Shadow palace?” Arad looked at her with a confused face, what in the nine hells was that?

“It’s where the mother of all life; Gracie Live. She is the goddess of lust, birth, rebirth, life, and much more.” She looked at Arad with a large grin on her face, “She’s also the goddess of succubus, and the palace is in the middle of a massive succubus-only kingdom of pure lust and debauchery. A pretty mighty dangerous place if I do say so myself.”

“Doesn’t sound like a place I’d want to go to for help… Would that goddess even help?” Arad looked at Hati, not buying it, he doubted that Gracie would even care to help.

“Elis probably talked to her about this. She’ll help in that case.” Hati looked at Arad, “You help her somewhat dark elf shadow drakaina and she gets a word for you to the goddess of life to save Mira. The shadow drakaina would also thank you buy carrying Mira to the shadow palace, it’s a win for everyone.”

“Can’t I learn shadow magic and take Mira there myself?” Arad asked.

“You can learn shadow magic, but you’ll get lost. The shadow palace always moves through the endless shadows and isn’t easy to locate. If you get lost, you’ll not even find your way back to the mortal world. It might take you years, decades, or even millennia to return if you managed to return at all.” Hati tapped her foot on her own shadow, “Look, can you jump into this and find the shadow palace on your own? I don’t think so.”

“So only the shadow drakaina can find it?” Lyla looked at Hati.

“Shadow dragons live within shadows and their senses are attuned to it. She’ll be able to find the shadow palace and get back pretty easily. But…” Hati looked at Arad.

“That shadow drakaina is insane, she lost her mind and sanity long ago. What Elis wants is to heal her.” Arad scratched his head, “So to save Mira, I need to find the shadow drakaina, get her sanity back, and make her carry Mira to the shadow palace…”

“I’ll tell you a few things about Gracie so you can feel at ease, and not make any stupid mistake in her palace.” Hati waved her hand as she leaned back on her seat, “Albeit the whole kingdom is filled with succubi, and that all those in the palace are half-naked horny succubi, she alone is a bit different.” Hati smiled, “You’ll find her wearing a pretty clean black and white maid uniform that covers most of her body, she even wears a maid hat thingy that she

changes every so often.”

“Pretty tame for a succubus goddess.” Arad noted.

“I actually gave birth to Astrid and Frida there. She’s quite professional in her work, so you

don’t have to fear anything on that side.” Hati looked at Arad with a grin, “And no, I can’t get you to meet or anything. I only got her to help since she wanted some of my tail’s fur to make her headband or hat.”

“In terms of power, how strong she is?” Arad asked, trying to gauge if they could escape if something went wrong.

“She is the mother of all life, and like all gods of her caliber, she’s also a duality. Those who get close to her find that there are actually two Gracie, a twin. One represents life, and the other is death. Her full title is the mother of all life and death.” Hati looked at Arad with an amused stare. “With a single glance, she could send you back to your mother’s womb and bring you out as a half-developed fetus just for fun. And she’s the one who gets to decide what is dead and what is alive, if she wants you dead, you’ll be dead. Only the overgod survived that since without neither she nor the world itself would exist.”

“Is her killing ability like the other gods?” Arad asked, trying to compare her to Korah.

“No, they order the soul to die, and it leaves the body. Gracie can outright make you a dead thing, she is death itself. That also means that Mira would never die if Gracie said she should be alive. Death and immortality are within her fingers.” Hati giggled, “If you just knew about the billions who wished to suck her toes to get a simple lick of immortality. She rejected all of them with a cold stare, she is the gatekeeper of immortality and the only reason it’s impossible to be immune to death. Except the Tarrasque, the overgod, and me.”